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Tag Archives: culture in the workplace

Interested in boosting employee productivity, engagement and loyalty? If you haven’t entertained the idea of creating a culture with an office desk on the beach, it is time to rethink the possibilities and go outside of the box. Employers are reluctant to entertain the idea of remote workplaces despite the benefits. Remote, virtual or telecommuting office culture is becoming more and more common as employees thrive and excel in their “beach setting” environment.

As a proponent of remote workplace alternatives, I have found from personal experience the benefits out way any disadvantages. Extending from coast-to-coast across the United States, the culture cultivated by our team provides:

Increased productivity

Increased creativity

Empowerment for employees

Increased loyalty

The virtual culture works for us by providing efficient time management and innovative ways to stay connected. Skype is a tool we use extensively.

Is A Remote Culture Right For You?

Granted, some professions require onsite presence. Firms now, however, have the opportunity to take a more flexible look at the standard office environment; allowing employees to use technology enabling them to connect and collaborate from anywhere.

Small changes can produce significant benefits simply by empowering employees to gain more control over their schedule. Studies have shown that telecommuters increase productivity by eliminating the worry of driving to work, cutting gas expenses and removing office politics. Firms who engage in creating a virtual culture reduce business costs on overhead, reduced sick leave and less turnover.

Research conducted at Stanford with a Chinese company reveals working from home is actually more productive than working in the office, as well as other benefits in the form of increased job satisfaction and fewer people leaving. The study revealed employees who worked from home reported higher job satisfaction and were 50% less likely to leave than their colleagues who worked in the office.

Best Buy, British Telecom and Dow Chemical found that virtual workers are 36% – 41% more productive.

The work-from-home nature of virtual work reduces absenteeism by $1,134 per employee, every year.

79% of traditional workers would prefer to work from home and 61% would take a pay cut to be able to do so.

Virtual workers get an extra 2-3 work-weeks of free time in commuting savings and report they use this time to spend with family, friends and for leisure.

Traditional Employees:

Gallup found that 54% of traditional U.S. workers sleep walk through their day.

An additional 18% are “actively disengaged” (meaning they actively undermine what an engaged worker accomplishes). Together, these groups make up a shocking 72% of the traditional workforce.

Another poll found that 1 in 3 high-potential traditional employees do not put full effort into their job.

Times have changed, and with that, firms need to stay abreast of the options and benefits available to them. Leaders should face the importance of an employee’s autonomy and the increased results of productivity and fulfillment by incorporating or exploring a remote culture. Lifestyle will often trump salary in an employee’s decision making process. Firms who embrace a remote culture can gain an edge in recruiting highly-skilled employees.

Question: Does your firm engage in a virtual employee culture? If so, what advantages and disadvantages are you finding? You can leave us a comment by clicking here!

Incentive plans should not be misconstrued as a means to motivate your team. You first need to build concrete goals and then inspire your team to reach each goal with conviction. It is imperative to communicate overall firm goals with your team. Group and one-on-one meetings provide an opportune time to discuss and evaluate strategies to reach each goal. Allowing your team members the opportunity to contribute to the overall success of your firm will instill motivation, confidence and passion that incentive plans cannot do on their own.

Before implementing an incentive plan, make certain your team members are fully engaged and committed to the position they hold at your firm. This will mean you, as a manager, must realize offering an incentive plan will not magically transform a disengaged team or team member. In our blog, “Learn How to Make an Employee Incentive Plan Effective,” https://aeschlapia.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/learn-how-to-make-employee-incentive-plans-effective/ we stressed the importance of being a good manager by guiding your employees to work on what is most important and then implementing an incentive plan as a reward.

Employee incentive plans are a significant component for firms wanting to stay competitive and on track with the pace of evolution in the workforce. You will need to do your homework for your plan to be effective:

Recognize all factors that affect your team’s behavior.

Look at the type of culture you have in your firm.

Understand each of your goals and the processes you will use.

Develop a measurement system for each goal.

At Ironstone, we have found many employee incentive plans simply don’t reap their intended results because they were implemented for the wrong reasons. Don’t be fooled in believing that an incentive program will counter poor behavior, performance or disengaged team members.

Start your incentive plan after you have managed your employees to the level of being:

Engaged

Passionate

Productive

Loyal

Once your team is instilled with the qualities listed above, you can implement your incentive plan by including the following critical elements:

Identify your desired activity/goal

Develop the tactical plan and how employees will work toward achieving each goal

The amount of time allotted to obtain each goal

The reward for achieving the goal

Remember every aspect of your plan needs to be measured to ensure the program’s success in achieving each goal. Make sure your firm’s strategic goals are concise and specific which provides team members a clear understanding of what is expected from them.

Goals should be challenging, yet achievable. The incentive plan will be destined

for failure if goals are interpreted as being unattainable.

A successful incentive program requires that each feature is suited to your team members’ interests. Find out what motivates your team. Adapting each element of the program to fit your team will provide you with engaged participants and enhance the effectiveness of the program.

Ironstone can assist you in strengthening relationship management at your firm which will lay the foundation needed to implement a successful employee incentive program.

Readers, we are curious! What are your thoughts on employee incentive programs?